Put drugs stars on trial says top cop

Kate Moss was interviewed about her alleged cocaine use

Celebrities who are caught on film apparently taking drugs should go on trial, the head of London's Metropolitan police has said.

Sir Ian Blair was speaking following several high profile cases in recent years involving the likes of Kate Moss and Amy Winehouse.

Pictures of Moss snorting a white powder, thought to be cocaine, appeared in the Daily Mirror in September 2005.

The prosecution service wasn't sure if the drug was cocaine - a class A drug, or amphetamine - a class B drug - because both are white powders.

The model ended up avoiding charges because the "precise nature" of the drug couldn't be confirmed.

Her former boyfriend Pete Doherty was also filmed apparently injecting drugs.

My position is that a sensible jury would not expect people to be sniffing talcum powder Sir Ian Blair, Metropolitan Police Commissioner

Sir Ian Blair thinks that if the police can't prove anything then a court should decide if the substance pictured is a controlled drug like cocaine, or even something innocent like talcum powder.

The Met chief wants juries to be allowed to consider stars guilty unless they can prove otherwise.

In an interview with London's Evening Standard, Sir Ian said his officers had contacted the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to talk about a change in policy.

He said: "The investigation of these cases is difficult due to there being no substance that can be forensically analysed and used for prosecution evidence.

"We are keen to explore whether there are further options that can be considered."

Winehouse was also questioned for allegedly smoking crack

Amy Winehouse was involved in a similar incident earlier this year when the Sun website obtained a video of the singer apparently smoking crack.

Like Moss, Winehouse was interviewed by police but no charges were brought.

Prosecutors said once again that a lack of "reliable evidence" meant that the case couldn't go any further.

On the newspaper pictures of Kate Moss, Sir Ian Blair said: "My position is that a sensible jury would not expect people to be sniffing talcum powder."

Harry Shapiro is director of communications and information at charity Drugscope.

He reckons the idea's unworkable and pointless.

"It's something of a public misconception that the antics of celebrities have any impact one way or the other on what particularly young people do in relationship to drug problems."

Your views

Newsbeat listeners have been texting in on 81199 about Sir Ian Blair's comments.

Tim from Essex thinks it's quite worrying that the police are advocating guilty until proven innocent. He thinks that is more worrying than increasing the time terror suspects can be held.

Pete Doherty has been filmed apparently injecting drugs

Ian from Havant in Hampshire agrees. He says celebrities taking drugs publicly is immoral but making them guilty and them making them prove their innocence is wrong.

He says our legal system is based on innocent until proven guilty and "if you change that for celebs, you have to change it for everyone and that just isn't feasible".

But Steph, 15, from Essex says "of course celebs should be punished more for drug related things".

She thinks police should stop letting them use their fame to twist the law and treat them like the rest of us.